2 – About Anna and the work of SOLVIVA

PLEASE NOTE: All Pages may be frequently updated and improved.

Here, in case you wonder, is a bit of background about me and my work:

I grew up in Sweden, where my gardening grandmother and Mother Nature were my best friends. In 1957, I fell head over heals in love and married an American and moved to USA. Living first in Princeton NJ, then in Brooklyn NY, then in Cambridge MA, and summering on Martha’s Vineyard, I raised a home and family with three daughters, a real HomeMom, while also devoting major time to weaving, gardening, pottery, batik, always fixing and improving stuff.

When I was born, 1938, the human population was 2.2 billion. As I approached 40, the population had increased to 4.3 billion, the toxic and nuclear nightmares were raging as feared, and I was increasingly horrified and pessimistic about problems being caused by Mankind, near and far, while at the same time I was learning and thinking about amazing possibilities. I saw, cut out and tacked to my fridge the following quote from the local newspaper: “Life begins at 40!” Hmmm… Little did I know how true this was to be for me.

My marriage died and my home burned down, but out of the hellish chaos rose heavenly magic! Synchronicity, Co-Incidence (by Whatever name), stunningly strong, Really BIG, unbelievable yet there they were, again and again, weaving a divine interconnecting network, feeling like a supporting pat on the back from WhoWhatEver (there is Something going on) – encouraging us when we’re on the right track. I did my best to do in accordance to what was revealed, always committed to seeking, designing, making and living with whatever seems to cause the least harm, be the most dependable and the most cost-effective, while improving our quality of life and health – with convenience, fun, security, safety, and with our gadgets and appliances, and our own car – and even flush toilets! Everything done in ways that cause Near-Zero-Harm to Anyone and Everything on Our Planet.

Some of the New-Good-Realities that have proven to exceed my highest hopes:

Heating: When the sun shines on the layered SOLVIVA SOLAR ROOF the temperature of the air flowing through it can rise from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 in about 2-3 seconds – a rise of 80 degrees, even on deep freeze days. Plus, with incorporated pipes, it can heat water as effectively as a 5500-watt water heater. Thus, this double-layered metal roof system can harvest sufficient solar energy to provide a home with the heating, cooling and hot water that it needs.

Electricity: With only 7 sq.ft. of PV panel, the sun can run 2 large and 5 small fans that move solar heated air down into and through the mass of gravel storage, from where it returns to the roof for reheating – a continuous cycle as long as the sun is shining. With only 130 sq.ft. of PV, enough solar power can be produced annually to run an all-electric car like the Nissan LEAF more than 10,000 miles! To run an entire household, including 2 Nissan LEAF cars each driving 10,000 miles annually (in cloudy New England!), requires only some 600 sq.ft. of PV panels – and this can be installed in ways barely visible, on the roof and/or among the landscaping. (I kid you not)

Food Production: The SOLVIVA WINTER GARDEN greenhouse proved that at least 1280 ounces of superb quality ready-to-eat salad greens can be produced weekly in a greenhouse of just 3000 sq.ft. – without any heating fuels, even through the worst winter – without any grid electricity, just PV panels – without any fossil-fueled machinery – and without any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. That’s 5 servings of superb SOLVIVA salad greens weekly for 265 people (in 1984, SOLVIVA was the first launch this brandnew product, never before seen by chefs or shoppers: clean ready-to-eat mixed greens!) – plus eggs and chicken – all of it produced in ways that cause Near-Zero-Harm to water, air, soil, people or animals near and far – in ways that improve local security and economy. (Check it out in both books!)

Wastewater Management: The SOLVIVA BIOCARBON GREENFILTERS were the first to show that most of the Nitrogen in wastewater can be successfully removed by dependable, low-cost natural filter systems composed of woodchips, plants, redworms, and myriads of beneficial mini and micro organisms, in accordance with the Laws of Nature. And they cost way way less. (UrinePower – I kid you not!)

Transportation: Since Feb. 2013, I have been the joyous owner of a Nissan LEAF , seemingly the best of the currently available All-Electric Cars. After tax deductions, the cost is a pretty normal $21-28,000, and then, plugging in to a standard 120-volt outlet, it reduces the cost of driving by some 80% compared to the current cost of driving with gasoline. Literally: driving an all-electric car, here and now, costs about 4.5 cents/mile, compared with roughly 24 cent/mile for driving with an infernal combustion engine (16 cents/mile for gasoline, plus oil, filters, exhaust system etc. etc.). EVs have roughly 200 moving parts vs 2000 in gasoline engines. My LEAF is getting 4.4 – 4.5 miles per kWh – thus, to drive a normal 10,000 miles/year requires roughly 2300 kWh/year. Guess how many square feet of PV panels are required for generating 2300 kWh/year with only solar power – in this often cloudy New England region. How many guessed what?? The answer: Only about 130 sq.ft. (1 sq.ft. PV can make 18 kWh/year). Let’s say 250 sq.ft. for good measure to provide reliable power for driving 10,000 miles/year, accounting for much less sun in the winter – this can be done on an area of only 20×12 feet, perfect size for a garage roof. Compare that with what it takes to produce and burn the 400 gallons of gasoline to drive 10,000 miles/year - try to imagine the difference (for example: burning 400 gallons of gas emits 10,000 pounds of CO2 into our atmosphere). I find it STUNNING that our sun plus PV can produce such enormous amounts of power. (And I find it equally stunning that so few seem to know about these facts, and that even fewer are using these blessed technologies.) With a 30-year loan at 3%, the cost of driving with solar power goes down to about 90% less than with gas, and CO2 emissions reduce by 100%! As they say: It’s a NoBrainer.

All this is really hard to believe, but is absolutely proven, true, hard facts.

The following 2 images compare 2 different ways to live, first the way it can be if we choose it, the Green Sustainable Way – then followed by the way most people live today, the expensive, insecure, polluting, harmful Grey Non-sustainable Way. These images give a sense of the profound difference – the Green Way can reduce Harm to Near-Zero, and may save $10,000- 20,000/year, and prevent some 70,000 pounds of CO2 emissions, annually.

THIS shows a bit more how a Near-Zero-Harm SolarGreen home could look:

And here is my own SOLVIVA home, built with MiniMoney in 1980.

Here seen in the depth of the -7F record cold of January 2014 – without any heating fuels, not even wood over these past 3 winters. And yes, that is my deep old porcelain tub, in the midst of my indoor garden, where every few days I have a long hot soak, relaxing to the core of my bones – soothing my mind to be still, observant and grateful. And knowing that this home causes Near-Zero Harm – that’s like HotChocolate+ColdWhippedCream for my worried soul. And I save so much money – thousands of dollars annually, while reducing my CO2 footprint by some 20,000 pounds annually. Ahhhh ……

Both my first book, SOLVIVA, and my new book GREEN LIGHT are available. To order and pay through PayPal: go to bottom of page.